The online newspaper serving the residents of the Baldwin City and all of the Douglas and Miami County areas of Kansas.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

A Political Party is Brewing at 7-Eleven® Stores

IRVING, Texas, (PRNewswire) -
Perk up, America. The election season is about to get even more heated.
That's because it's time for millions of American coffee-lovers to let
their voices be heard in the fifth quadrennial 7-Election™ Presidential Coffee Cup Pollat participating 7-Eleven® stores. 7-Election coffee cups are out and ready to be counted.
Every four years during the U.S. presidential campaign, 7-Eleven
launches its popular 7-Election coffee cup poll. The campaign invites
customers to "cast their cups" by purchasing coffee in specially marked
7-Election cups. Starting Wednesday, Aug. 31, coffee-lovers can choose from three – blue Democrat, red Republican and, new this year, a nonpartisan, purple Speak Up cup.
7-Eleven customers can cast their cup votes simply by purchasing their coffee throughout the day. Voting will end on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Patriotic coffee-drinkers can vote at participating 7-Eleven stores
and, unlike the real election, as often as they want in the weeks
leading up to the election.
"This is 7-Eleven's fifth 7-Election, and it's always a fun way to
keep a finger on the caffeinated pulse of American politics," said Laura Gordon,
7-Eleven vice president of marketing and brand innovation. "Weeks
before 7-Election cups appeared in stores, we were getting calls about
whether we were going to hold another coffee cup poll for the 2016
election. We think it's the best-tasting poll around."
The 2016 election is big, and so are this year's 7-Election cups –
7-Eleven's premium extra-large Stay Hot cups. However, the price is not.
The extra-large 7-Election cups are value priced between the
suggested/regular retail prices of medium and large 7-Eleven hot
beverage cups.
For those not interested in taking sides, the new "Speak Up" cup
encourages customers to discuss or write in what's important to them
this election season and share on social media with the hashtag
#7ELECTION. Issues big and small from world peace and equal rights to
slow Internet speeds and traffic jams are included in a "Make Your
Voices Heard" section on the back of the cup. Non-partisan
coffee-drinkers also can write in their own issue – or candidate – on
the back of the cup.
"While preparing for the 2016 count-the-cups poll, we learned that
voters, particularly younger ones, aren't just talking about candidates
or even political parties this election. They're taking to social media
to talk about a variety of issues that are important to them," Gordon
said. "So we added the third 'Speak Out' cup to let people say what's on
their mind, whether checking one of the boxes on the back of the cup or
writing one in and sharing it."
To encourage even higher turnout, Free Coffee Week is slated for Oct. 3-9, when any size cup of fresh-brewed coffee will be free for 7Rewards®
members. Available through the 7-Eleven mobile app, a 7Rewards coupon
for one free any-size cup of coffee will be sent daily to members.
During Free Coffee Week, 7Rewards members will receive a daily coupon
for one free cup of coffee, any size. Consumers wanting to take
advantage of the week of free coffee can download the 7-Eleven mobile
app from the App Store or GooglePlay so they can take advantage of this
great offer.
But, wait! That's not all. After each of the three presidential
debates, 7-Eleven will host a Dollar Day to encourage day-after feedback
on the debate. Dollar Days are scheduled for Sept. 27, Oct. 10 and 20. The retailer will also offer dollar coffee on Election Day, Nov. 8,
to encourage people to vote with their cups one last time before the
real ballots are counted. The dollar offers are only available on
7-Election cups through the 7Rewards app.
7-Eleven cups are instantly tabulated at the register when the sale is made. Starting Sept. 6, national, state and major city results will be posted daily on www.7election.com,
a website created especially for the coffee cup poll. Poll tallies will
reflect the percentage of the three cups sold to date.
"Each day, more than 1 million Americans buy a cup of coffee at 7-Eleven stores," said Rusty Smith, 7-Eleven director of proprietary beverage brands. "7-Election is a warmup for the real election Nov. 8
and gets people talking about what party and what issues are important
to them. Most polls measure only hundreds or thousands of voters.
7-Election has the potential to survey millions leading up to Election Day.
We think the new 'Speak Up' cup provides a great way for our loyal
coffee customers to let their voices be heard during the 2016 election."
After working with satirical website, The Onion, for the 2012
election, 7-Eleven has once again teamed up with America's Finest News
Source to help get out the vote and a few laughs. The retailer is
sponsoring The Onion's special election coverage, which will include
links to the interactive 7-Election results map. An Election Survival
Guide, Onion-style, will include topics like "Ways to Diffuse Tension
during a Political Conversation," "Election Day Social Media Etiquette" and "How to Handle Your Candidate's Defeat."
With 7-Election, the convenience retailer has been an entertaining
part of the political conversation during the past four presidential
elections in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. In each of the previous
7-Elections, a staggering 6 million cups (ballots) were cast, and
results in each mirrored those in the "real" elections.
While a nonpartisan beverage enjoyed by Democrats and Republicans
alike, coffee does have deep political roots in American history. In
1607, Captain John Smith of Virginia
introduced coffee in America, and it was named the national beverage by
the First Continental Congress after the Boston Tea Party.
The closest locations to the Douglas County area is Olathe in Johnson County with 3 stores in a 100 mile radius. Olathe stores can be found at 1550 S Hamilton Circle, 951 S. Parker and 202 N Parker.

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